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anchors the "newsroom" show on the weekends. look at her. i'm telling you -- she was working up until the very end. she's a trooper. >> you took the words out of my mouth. look at mommy. i called her today, got voice mail. i said, am i an uncle yet? >> i hope you got voice mail. i hope she's not answering your phone. congratulations from all of us. we're so happy and excited for you. you know, the family grows, it is just great. >> fred and john, congratulations. we're next. >> okay. take it away, don. i'll keep you in the loop. any minute now, we could get a statement from the nation's highest court on whether the justices will conside cases concerning same sex marriage. this is a big deal. we're waiting for word. but first this, the fiscal cliff, the talks hit a huge road bump. zingers and verbal jabs are flying while actual talks are at a stand still. president obama says republicans must agree to preserve a middle

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class tax cut as first part of any deal. and he linked republicans to scrooge today while touring a pennsylvania toy factory. listen. >> if congress does nothing, every family in america will see their income taxes automatically go up on january 1st. every family, everybody here, you'll see your taxes go up on january 1st. i mean, i'm assuming that doesn't sound too good to you. that is sort of like the lump of coal you get for christmas. that's a scrooge christmas. >> that's pretty scroogy, right? president obama's proposal calls for $1.6 trillion in new tax revenue. $50 billion for new stimulus spending. and about $400 billion in entitlement cuts. republicans say, the president's proposal's nothing but a political stunt. here is boehner. >> the white house spends three weeks trying to develop a

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proposal and they send one up here that calls for $1.6 trillion in new taxes, calls for a little -- not even $400 billion in cuts, and they want to have this extra spending that is actually greater than the amount they're willing to cut. i mean, it is -- it was not a serious proposal. and so right now we're almost nowhere. >> what we will do is continue to take this as a serious matter. this is not a game. we're not interested in playing rope adope. we're interested in trying to solve the problem for the american people so that we don't see taxes go up on anybody, so that we can engage in tax reform, get this economy going again. we're not playing a game. we're being serious. that offer yesterday was simply not serious. >> oh, boy. scrooge, rope-a-dope. where does that leave us after months of hearing about the

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fiscal cliff, no signs of a compromise plan yet. chief white house correspondent jessica yellin here now. jessica, what happened to all this, hey, willing to work together, let's compromise, let's do what the american people want, we got a couple of days here before we go on vacation? what happened? >> reporter: i don't know. maybe it is always darkest before the dawn? that's the most optimistic way to look at it, i guess. look, the white house would look at it this way or democrats at least, they have been frustrated that they argue that republicans have not come to the table with specifics on how they would raise taxes. the president as you know campaigned on this pledge to raise taxes on the upper income, and they want to hear what republicans are willing to do on that. so they said since the republicans weren't given specifics, okay, the white house went up there, and delivered an opening position, was not written down on paper, not sort of a formal offer, here's what we want, it was a starting position for negotiations and it

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obviously blew up. the republicans hate it. but their position is, okay, guys, you don't like it, come back at us with something you like better. >> okay. so you said it was written down on paper. >> reporter: it was not. >> it was not written down on paper. >> reporter: no, no, no. no actual offer. it was a conversation about here's where we stand this is what the white house would like, and they presented that, by the way, the republicans have presented to the white house what they would like and they have said they want no tax rate increases, they want no -- they weren't specific about how much money they want out of taxes, both sides are sort of being locked into their old positions, don. >> okay. >> reporter: it was meant to sort of prod and jump start a conversation on details. >> okay. all right. let me work through this. what about a face to face me meeting? has the white house made any specific plans on a face to face meeting on this fiscal cliff, leaders talking in the same room, anybody? >> reporter: no. not that i know of at least. and i checked just a short time

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ago. not that i know of. but i got to tell you, those things are not always productive. things seem to get done better at the staff level. the last time the president spoke to speaker boehner on wednesday night and said bottom line tax rates, you have to agree to let tax rates go up. ball is in the republicans' court to come back and offer a counterproposal. they're outraged because they want more spending cut s. so the white house is looking to see what they'll come back with, on spending cuts and on tax rates, and we're all waiting on that now. >> okay. we -- for lack of a countdown clock, what, 13 days now or something? >> reporter: we have until the end of the year so -- >> before they go on vacation, though, yeah. okay. thank you. >> reporter: they can stay in town. if they don't get it done, they have to stay. >> thank you very much. what's next for the fiscal cliff debate? republicans are furious and president obama drawing a red line over middle class taxes. want to bring in steven moore with "the wall street journal." so, hello, sir.

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>> hi. >> let me show you, here is his new book on taxes and wealth in america. you wrote an opinion piece, steven, saying democrats only want one thing, higher taxes. you say democrats probably won't offer any serious spending cuts. why do you think that? there's no compromise in sight here? >> i just don't see it. you know, don, i was thinking a couple of weeks ago they would certainly reach an agreement, we wouldn't fall off the fiscal cliff, that people's taxes wouldn't go up in january. but now i'm not so certain about that. as you look at the negotiations so far and, look, my sources are on the republican side of the aisle, but what they're saying to me is this president doesn't want to deal from us, he want a surrender from us. so far what has been offered as jessica said has really been, you know, poison to the republicans. i'm not going to agree to a deal that raises taxes by $4 for every dollar of spending cuts. i mean, last year the president at least offered some substantial spending cuts, much higher than right now. i think they're gridlocked now.

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i think it is a tragedy because it would be pretty easy to just get through the beginning of this year by extending everything for six months. but that's not where they're at right now. >> you know how negotiations go. you offer the very minimal in the beginning and move. why isn't the gop then unveiling a specific plan yet? wouldn't that be the most direct way to counter the white house plan, with specific numbers? >> for the last two or three years, the republicans have passed the paul ryan budget, which is a very substantive budget plan about how to deal with this deficit. it is all there, you know, in black and white. anybody can read that plan. it has entitlement cuts, it has, you know, cuts in various programs and so on. so they have been pretty specific about what they want. by the way, in the senate, there is no budget for three years. >> here's the thing -- >> but let me raise the other point. i think jessica had it not exactly right when she said the republicans haven't been specific about how they would be willing to raise taxes. what republicans are saying is

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we're willing to put a cap on deductions of $30,000, $40,000, $50,000, haven't been specific about the number, but that's a way to reduincrease the taxes o wealthier taxpayers but in a way that doesn't raise tax rates. that seems to be a big concession. >> i'm talking about negotiations. if the american people wanted paul ryan's plan, they would have voted for paul ryan. they didn't. they voted for compromise. and that's not happening. wouldn't the most direct way, the best way would be a counteroffer of some sort? with specifics? >> well, you know, don, i think they have done that. i'm not in the room, so i can't say, you know what they're saying when they close the doors. by the way, you know, what i would love, don, you and i can both promote this idea. all of these negotiations should be in front of the cspan cameras and the cnn cameras, these should not be closed door negotiations. the american people should see what both sides are -- >> then it turns into a theater, though, stephen. >> no, no.

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look, but what happens now is everybody is -- somebody said this and nobody knows who is being really truthful about what's being offered. i think -- i shoot for transparency. i think this should all be in the sunlight and you would have monster ratings. people would tune in. >> i'm for tran paresparency bu grandstanding. >> i think this is probably going to linger on for another couple of weeks. i wouldn't be surprised if you and i aren't having this conversation on december 23rd or december 24th. but i think they're going to get this deal done before the end of the year. >> yeah. happy holidays, huh? thank you, stephen moore. >> great to be with you, sir. -- extremely, extremely frustrated. this is what you need to understand. we go from one to another. we go from fema to our homeowners. my home owners insurance offered me $150. what can i do with that? >> tempers and emotions hitting

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a high on staten island as folks there are still struggling to get back on their feet after sandy. you'll see what happened. plus, will the supreme court take up same sex marriage? we could get an answer very soon. re? i love math! but two ipads means two data plans? that's crazy. maybe not. with at&t mobile share, adding an ipad is just $10 a month. but honestly, mom and dad's love is all i really need. we should keep these for us. we should keep these. what?! [ male announcer ] at&t mobile share. add an ipad for just $10 a month. one plan. up to 10 devices. at&t. rethink possible. aids is not going to take my baby. ♪ aids will not take our future. ♪ our weapons are testing... education, care and support.

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supporters and opponents of same sex marriage are anxiously watching the supreme court this afternoon and the same month that voters in three states approved gay marriage, the justices are meeting to decide whether to take on the issue. they're looking at several cases. our justice correspondent joe johns is here to help us go through the big ones now. so, joe, let's start with the prop 8 issue, proposition 8, which outlaws gay marriage in california. what happens if the court decides not to hear this one? >> it is tricky, don, because first of all, nothing is simple to the supreme court. it depends what the court does. the court could formally reject that case, which means the lower court ruling stands, so for proposition 8, a federal appeals court already ruled that the ban which passed as a referendum by the way is unconstitutional. so the supreme court rejecting the case would basically make same sex marriage legal again in california. this is another big point,

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though, the supreme court could simply decide just to sit on the case, not hear it this term, not reject it either and that basically would put the decision off to a later date. and then at that time, california would just sort of be stuck in a legal limbo until the court makes a decision. >> all right. so we'll just basically what you're saying we'll have to wait and see what happens on this one, right? >> yeah. >> several cases deal with doma, the defense of marriage act, is what we're talking about. what is at the heart of those cases and how likely is it that the court will decide to hear one or more of these cases? >> actually, most of the cases they're looking at, there are ten cases, most of them revolve around the defense of marriage act. and at bottom this all has to do with federal benefits and whether couples in states where same sex marriage is legal are eligible for benefits like tax breaks, social security pensions, of course, can have huge significant financial impact, the question, of course, is what role should the

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government play when it comes to the issue of marriage, which throughout history has been regulated by the states. so the supreme court could look at this narrow question of federal power, or they could sort of broaden it out into the discriminatory effects of the law and so on. it is really up to them to determine the scope of the case. most court watchers would say this is the most likely of all the legal challenges to be taken up, don. >> timeline for rulings and arguments here? >> well, if the court takes this up, say today, we're probably looking at march before you actually see the case argued and very likely not a decision until june because that is sort of the way the things play out and would probably be one of the last cases in the term to be decided, just like health care happened this past term. >> regardless, isn't it -- it is amazing. i never thought in my lifetime we would be covering this issue, having the supreme court possibly look at this particular

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issue. how far we have come. >> it is amazing. and in fairly quick time, and the question, frankly, is whether the country is ready to some degree because nine states have sort of signed on to the notion, but you have 41 other states that have laws that are sort of against. so is the country ready? >> got to run, joe. thank you, though. appreciate it. you know, we won't show you his face or let anyone know names, but a wealthy missouri has been giving away money to the victims of superstorm sandy. he's handing out 100 dollar bills. still, this random act of kindness is little comfort for many of the people who are still suffering. a packed town hall meeting on staten island erupted into anger, most targeted at fema. >> reporter: more than 700 people packed an indoor

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auditorium for a town hall meeting for superstorm sandy victims on staten island. there was a time to discuss business and a chance to lay out their emotions. >> we are extremely, extremely frustrated. this is what you need to understand. we go from one to another. we go from fema to our homeowners. my homeowners insurance offered me $150. what can i do that? >> reporter: more than 100 people were left out in the lobby when the auditorium reached capacity. >> i don't know if i want to go in there now, after what i'm hearing from the people. >> reporter: james mulinaro organized the meeting to answer questions. >> whoa, whoa! you want me to get up, do i have a right to speak? do i have the right to speak? >> reporter: some questions were answered. >> the outdoor air quality in new york city, based on our testing, is fine, okay? the quality of air -- >> reporter: while others took

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the opportunity to vent their frustrations. >> not safe for us to live there! the next storm that hits, everybody is going to be vulnerable. >> reporter: and some just gave up. >> you think it's a joke? you really think it's a joke? you go home for the holidays. i don't. but you sit there with a smile. i wish it was election, because you would do better this year. >> carol lee reporting. folks there clearly upset, wanting to know where is fema and where is the money? next hour we're putting these questions to fema's coordinating director. don't miss that. up next here on cnn, real life killer robots could be deployed on battlegrounds. find out what the pentagon is doing to prevent them from killing innocent people. plus, we're monitoring an explosion at a social security building in arizona. stay with us. ed lobster's crabft ends soon. hurry in and try five succulent entrees, like our tender snow crab paired with savory garlic shrimp. just $12.99. come into red lobster and sea food differently.

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and introducing 7 lunch choices for just $7.99. and the candidate's speech is in pieces all over the district. the writer's desktop and the coordinator's phone are working on a joke with local color. the secure cloud just received a revised intro from the strategist's tablet. and while i make my way into the venue, the candidate will be rehearsing off of his phone. [ candidate ] and thanks to every young face i see out there. [ woman ] his phone is one of his biggest supporters. [ female announcer ] with cisco at the center... working together has never worked so well.

a developing situation to tell you about in casa grande, arizona. investigators were looking at a small explosion that blackened the back entrance to the social security office. casa grande is 15 miles south of phoenix. the fire marshal says no one was injured or killed. the building was evacuated.

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damage minimal. the explosion happened at a federal building, atf is, of course, investigating. also according to the fire marshal there, there may be a suspect in custody. we'll continue to check on that one. the kindness of one stranger is making huge waves on the internet, and the stranger is a new york city policeman. a tourist snapped this photo of 25-year-old officer larry deprimo as he helped a homeless man put on a new pair of boots that the officer had just paid for. the nypd posted the picture on its facebook page and the snapshot has half a million likes and has been shared more than 188,000 times. officer deprimo spoke with brooke baldwin this morning about why he stopped to help. >> it was extremely cold out, and this gentleman didn't even have a pair of socks on. and you could see the blisters from, like, 10, 15 feet away. >> how bad? >> probably about the size of my palm. and just, you know, i don't know how he wasn't in pain, but he wasn't bothering anybody, just

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walking, you know, he had his own agenda and very -- he was a gentleman when i had spoken to him. i knew i had to help him. he was extremely thankful, he had a smile from ear to ear, which is something i'll never forget. and he said, you know, thank you, officer. he said, god bless you and be safe out there. and just kept on going on his way. i asked him for -- if he can'ted a cup of coffee and food, but he didn't want to and he kept on going. >> as you heard officer deprimo say the man thanked him and said god bless. the officer says many of his colleagues do similar acts routinely. to egypt now. protesters again today filled cairo's tahrir square. they're angry over what they see as the new egyptian president's power grab, that anger intensifying now. after a mostly islamist assembly rushed to pass a draft

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constitution early this morning. the document will be presented to president mohamed morsi tomorrow for his signature. egyptians will vote on the draft in two weeks. wow. in syria, as the internet goes dark, a is the u.s. closer to arming the rebels and is time out for bashar al assad? jim clancy is next. the usual, bob? not today. [ male announcer ] bob has afib: atrial fibrillation not caused by a heart valve problem, a condition that puts him at greater risk for a stroke. [ gps ] turn left. i don't think so. [ male announcer ] for years, bob took warfarin, and made a monthly trip to the clinic to get his blood tested. but not anymore. bob's doctor recommended a different option: once-a-day xarelto®. xarelto® is the first and only

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the cadillac ats outmatches the bmw 3 series. i cannot believe i have ended the day not scraping some red paint off on these barriers. ♪ [ male announcer ] the all-new cadillac ats. part of a whole new line of tablets from dell. it's changing the conversation. ♪ one of the problems bashar al assad had in syria, his troops deserting him. but what if the syrian government had an army of killer robots like the terminator, so famously played by arnold schwarzenegger? it is not as far fetched as it may sound. and as cnn's chris lawrence reports now, it is an issue the pentagon is grappling with.

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>> reporter: behind every hell fire missile, there is a human being, someone back at base remotely pulling the trigger. but the pentagon is preparing for the day when robots are capable of killing on their own. >> starting to take over! >> reporter: it conjers up images of the terminator. >> mr. chairman, i need to make myself very clear. if we uplink now, sky net will be in control of your military. >> but you'll be in control of sky net, right? >> reporter: the pentagon just issued its first directive on autonomous weapons, effectively forbidding the development of lethal weapons with no human control, to minimize failures that could lead to unintended engagements. >> that's a sterile term for meaning harming innocents, killing the wrong target. >> reporter: the pentagon's dave acmanic admits it is 20 or 30 years away.

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that technology doesn't exist yet so why now? >> the thought is technology is dynamic and we would like to get out ahead of it. >> reporter: just this week, the navy tested its next generation drone, which could carry bombs, and land on an aircraft carrier with hardly any human control. the directive only applies to lethal systems. it still allows the military to develop autonomous spy planes. >> as we begin to approach the possibility of having machines select and engage targets, we want to be very careful not to cross that line without high level policy review. >> reporter: human rights watch applauds the pentagon's move. >> we do not believe it solves the problem, however. >> reporter: so the group is calling for governments to ban autonomous weapons outright. bonnie dock erty points to syria and wond whaerz kiers what kill could do in a situation like

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that. >> because they're emotionless, they could serve as a perfect tool for a dictator who would not have to worry about the danger of a human soldier turning on him if ordered to fire on his own civilians. a robot would not do that. >> reporter: when you're talking about a weapon that doesn't have the capacity to feel any compassion for its victims, it opens up all kinds of ethical questions that the pentagon and really militaries around the world are going to have to grapple with over the next 20 years. chris lawrence, cnn, the pentagon. half past the hour. i'm don lemon. wasn i want you to think about this one. what is worse, what is going on in syria or not knowing what is happening there? that's the question at hand as much of the nation is in its second day of an internet blackout. look at this table from acamai.

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it shows activity has literally flatlined in syria. that's online. and on the ground, though -- there has been intense movement as seen in video distributed through satellite phone connections. anti-government fighters are now better armed with explosives and weapons to bring down regime aircraft. they also made a serious grab for the damascus airport. and activists say they now have control of an oil field in this city. but the deaths continue to mount. 31 syrians killed today. as many as 40,000 since syrians began rising up against president bashar al assad, 20 months ago. that is according to activists. want to bring in now cnn's jim clancy from cnn international. how are the events on the ground changing the game in syria now? >> i think when we look this week at the downing of two

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aircraft, one helicopter, by surface to air missiles, by raiding, looting government stockpiles, inside military bases, we see something that could, could be a game changer here because up until this point, the regime of bashar al assad has ruled the skies and the rebels have only been able to run and scatter to prevent being decimated by these air strikes. villages and towns still paying a huge price, but this is one of the big changes that has taken place. the rebels themselves changing strategies to go after exactly those kinds of military bases, closing in, if you will, and you mentioned they're on damascus. that has got to cause a lot of concern for the regime. we're hearing the reports today, fierce fighting, across several cities, aleppo, arwa damon is there. it is hardly recognizable from the last time she was there. and we know that fighting continues in the suburbs of

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damascus as well. >> interesting now. the internet is -- has a big role in war right now who is responsible for the internet going down. syria's government blames terrorists. >> a lost people that are internet experts say it is very unlikely because the internet comes in to syria from three differe different sources. it is unlikely the terrorists know where the cables are or how to cut them and the evidence shows they were taken out in rapid succession indicating they might have been switched off by the regime. to what end, we don't know. is that to prevent people from knowing things inside syria, is it to prevent the rebels from having communications via the internet, is it to try to stop the videotape from getting out to the world? we have seen that. coming out still today, the rebels are able to get out because they have satellite telephone. >> let's talk about here, the united states. the u.s., is the u.s. weighing, you know, the option of arming the anti-government forces? listen and we'll talk about it.

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>> we're providing arms to the opposition, convince the people who support bashar al assad, in many cases because they're afraid of their own existence, or will it simply lead to more fighting. that is the question that we are considering. >> so seems that we are weighing that option. and does this mean the end is near for bashar al assad? >> i don't think anybody can say the end is near for bashar al assad. he's got a lot of tanks, a lot of aircraft, a lot of firepower. what we're seeing from the united states is more of a concern that events are moving very swiftly on the ground. the u.s. wants to be able, at the end of all of this to have some influence, some input into what comes next there. not having supplied any arms up to this point, they don't have much influence. they're beginning to wonder, do we need to have more and how do we get it? they're still very concerned who are the rebels, who do they represent, are these al qaeda forces, we don't want our arms falling into the wrong hands. that's a paramount concern for

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washington. >> this guy's the best. thank you, jim clancy. appreciate it, shirt. shocking numbers to tell you about, 25,000 people missing in mexico. up next, details on how these missing person cases are being linked to the drug cartels there. make a wish! i wish we could lie here forever. i wish this test drive was over, so we could head back to the dealership. [ male announcer ] it's practically yours. test drive! but we still need your signature. volkswagen sign then drive is back. and it's never been easier to get a jetta. that's the power of german engineering. get $0 down, $0 due at signing, $0 deposit, and $0 first month's payment on any new volkswagen. visit vwdealer.com today. on any new volkswagen. social security are just numbers thinkin a budget.d... well, we worked hard for those benefits. we earned them. and if washington tries to cram decisions about the future... of these programs into a last minute budget deal...

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just today, before mexico's president leaves office, a staggering new figure has emerged. 25,000, that's how many people have gone missing in mexico in just the past six years. and most of these mysterious disappearances are linked to the mexican drug war. want to bring in now our senior latin affairs correspondent, rafael romo, men, women, children taken while walking near their homes, others arrested by uniformed men and never seen again. why are the cartels taking them? >> let me describe a couple of situations i've been able to witness in last few years. number one, i had an opportunity to be at the city morgue in

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acapulco last year and what they were telling me is that a lot of the victims that they get there are unidentified and remain so for years and years and years because it may be a young man who was recruited in northern mexico, fighting for a cartel in southern mexico, he dies, the family doesn't know, and so he goes to the list of the missing. the second case that i want to tell you about is the case of two young cousins, two girls, age 14, who were kidnapped in the central part of mexico, they were sold to a pimp who sold them to a brothel. in the meantime, the families are looking for these two girls and they don't know where they are. you find people like those and those lists of missing. also, the list is not including those central american migrants that go to mexico and disappear because they're robbed, kidnapped or killed. >> felipe calderon promised to make this database public online and that never happened and now this list is released. so has the government lost

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control of this situation here? >> it really seems to. at least in the -- when it comes to missing people, and you very well said at the beginning, this is calderon's last day in office. so there is really no incentive for him to be clear about this information and make a public statement to the nation as a whole. so this situation is not very likely to be cleared up anytime soon. >> rafael romo, as usual, thank you very much. this weekend is our annual tribute to cnn heroes. every day folks who have impacted thousands of lives. up next, we take you behind the scenes with the director of this weekend's event.

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everyday people changing the world. who will be cnn's hero of the year? find out sunday night when anderson cooper hosts cnn heroes, an all-star tribute at 9:00 p.m. eastern. the winner will get a $250,000 grant to continue his or her work. nischelle turner joins us now, live, with the show's director, hamish hamilton. hi, nischelle. tell us about the superstars, who will be performing sunday night like the grammy award winner neo. >> reporter: can i throw out a couple of names? i'm not a name dropper, but how about susan sarandon how about viola davis, how about 50 cent, how about people like that, that will be here at heroes on sunday night. you're nodding your head, like i'm directing this thing, so, yeah, that's a pretty good feat. don just talked about neo

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performing on the stage tonight. you have done a bunch of huge productions, namely super bowl halftimes, things like that. how does directing cnn heroes, how does that differ and how does it -- it is such a special night, how is it so special? >> well, i mean, you know, super bowl halftime, madonna was an amazing experience, heros is similar but different. the core of heroes you have ten absolutely inspirational characters who daily get up and put love and positivity and an incredible human spirit into the world in the most decembsperate situations. madonna is an amazing character. but what do we know about those people, they're part of the daily life, the daily fabric. the ten heroes we meet on sunday aren't yet. they're just as powerful, kind of personalities, internally. they truly inspire. >> even more so because they're

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everyday people doing extraordinary things, and changing the world person by person. that's what i so love about this. >> and sometimes they see in the most simple of things they see incredible opportunity. the kenneth congo story from last year he walked into a hotel, he was a refugee in kenya, came to america, he threw away a bar of soap in his hotel room and from that bar of soap he created an organization, he became a cnn hero, and just the kind of -- just the depth of spirit he showed and it is inspiring. i feel cleansed having done the show. >> that was first tissue i threw away. i had about four tissues. i call it the four-tissue show because you do shed a lot of tears, but tears of joy because the stories are so inspirational. we'll send it back to you. if you're wondering why hamish and i are so close, it is because he's 857 feet tall and

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i'm a myth idget. i have to have him sit here. we have to get close. >> one of the producers said hey, she's really close. i'm, like, yeah, what's going on there. i thought maybe it was a love connection. >> like an olin mills poster, you know when you pose for the pictures when you were 7, it is an olin mills pose. >> there are worse things than being that close to nischelle turner. thank you very much. tune in sunday night at 9:00 p.m. eastern for cnn heroes, an all-star tribute hosted by anderson cooper, an evening sure to inspire. as nischelle said, four tissues. two girls in oakland, california, best friends, their families say they were inseparable and did everything together. and they were together when they died. up next, details on the girls' final moments as investigators search for clues in their brutal murders. [ male announcer ] citi turns 200 this year.

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another story to tell you

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about for weary new jersey residents. look at this wreckage, a freight train carrying toxic chemicals that derailed in southern new jersey in paulsboro. we're told the railroad bridge collapsed and the train crashed into a creek near the delaware river. toxic chemical, vinyl chloride. listen to new jersey official s explain the threat. >> vinyl chloride is a chemical that can create, like, it can cause headaches and respiratory issues, nausea, things like that, on short-term exposure. in this particular incident it appears all the vinyl chloride in the particular car has dissipated. there is no more release going on. >> no serious injuries have been reported, but more than two dozen people sought treatment for respiratory issues. new jersey officials say it could be days before they get a crane large enough to remove the derailed train cars. i want to tell you about two girls, just teenagers, life long

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best friends, who should be texting and trying on dresses and going on first dates. instead, their last moments were spent in the arms of strangers, neighbors who heard round after round of gunfire and rushed outside to find one girl lying in the street and the other crawling and crying for help. dozens of bullets were fired at the teens by a mystery gunman who calmly walked away from what police in oakland, california, call a case of overkill. more now from kristen ayers of kpix. >> reporter: tonight it is quiet on this block of mini street. a teddy bear, some flowers and the flicker of candlelight the only sign that something tragic happened here just days ago. >> these girls did not deserve to be like this, laid in the street, gunned down. >> reporter: girls were best friends, 15-year-old raquel and bobbi. no one knows what they were doing here in east oakland early sunday morning, but just before

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6:00 a.m., bursts of gunfire, round after round, unloaded, hitting the girls and rittling nearby cars. a friend of raquel's family who did not want to be identified said neighbors comforted the teens as they lay dieing. >> covering them with blankets to make sure raquel was okay. holding her hand until the paramedics got here. >> she was my best friend. >> reporter: bobbi's mother was still grieving her son's suicide which happened a few months ago when she found out her daughter was murdered this weekend. she says bobbi, a sophomore at oakland high, left home saturday night and lied before where she was going. the next time she saw her is when she identified her body. >> i wonder how it got so out of control that they had to shoot my daughter and her friend. that's not going to do any good now. not going to bring them back. if you have children out there, be sure you know where they're at. >> kristen ayers reporting. the girls are among the latest victims of a crime wave in

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oakland. 116 killings so far this year. six more than a year ago. burglary and robbery also suffering amid police shortage that is approaching crisis levels. four years ago, oakland had more than 800 officers. the number projected for next february, 605. two city council members proposed a beefed up to the force. but it will be january before it goes to the full council. alzheimer's is a devastating disease, one that is so hard on families. and tonight one of its victims will perform his last show. we spoke with music legend glen campbell in an emotional interview. plus, i'll speak live with the ceo president obama visited and find out whether he's a fan of president obama's fiscal cliff plan. if you think running a restaurant is hard, try running four. fortunately we've got ink.

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♪ thriller

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girl i can feel ♪ you know i want to dance, right? but i don't want to embarrass myself. i love that song. feels like just yesterday, but it was 30 years ago today that a 24-year-old michael jackson released a new album called "thriller." seven of the nine tracks went on to become top ten hits. won three grammys and three decades later, "thriller" is the best-selling album in the world still. speaking of music legends, want to talk about an american legend in music as well. he calls it, you know, a career. glen campbell suffering from alzheimer's, sits down with cnn for an emotional interview as he gets ready for his final show tonight. here's miguel marquez. ♪ >> reporter: last year, the rhinestone cowboy made a stunning announcement. >> what did they diagnose me as? >> alzheimers. >> alzheimer's.

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what's alzheimer's? how do you -- >> you start losing your memory. and your ability to reason. ♪ some days i'm so confused ♪ ♪ my past is in my way ♪ > >> reporter: this isn't glen campbell's first major challenge. he successfully battled drug and alcohol addiction. >> i was forgiven for being a dummy, literally. >> reporter: but now after five decades as a music icon, the 76-year-old entertainer is taking his final bow. ♪ >> reporter: campbell released his final album "ghost on the canvas," now wrapping up his farewell tour with a backing band that features three of his children, including daughter ashley. >> he looks at me sometimes, confused, and i'll just smile at him. i just try and make him feel

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like he's surrounded by people that love him on stage. ♪ >> reporter: campbell may be stepping off the public stage, but his guitar will never be far from his sight. >> all i wanted to do, ever since i could remember, was play my guitar and sing. ♪ ♪ searching for another don't cry over spilt milk. get up and be a man and do what you got to do. >> reporter: miguel marquez, cnn, los angeles . getting close to the top of the hour, i'm don lemon. thanks for joining us. i want to keep you in the loop right now. at any minute we could get a statement from the nation's highest court about whether the justices will consider cases concerning same sex marriage.

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it is a very big deal and we're waiting for word. but first this. fiscal cliff talks hit a huge road bump. zinger and verbal jabs are flying while actual talks are at a stand still. president barack obama says republicans must agree to preserve a middle class tax cut as the first part of any deal and he likened republicans to scrooge today, while touring a pennsylvania toy factory. >> if congress does nothing, every family in america will see their income taxes automatically go up on january 1st. every family, everybody here, you'll see your taxes go up on january 1st. i mean, i'm assuming that doesn't sound too good to you. that's sort of like the lump of coal you get for christmas. that's a scrooge christmas. >> the president's proposal calls for $1.6 trillion in new

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tax revenue. $50 billion for new stimulus spending. and about $400 billion in entitlement cuts. republicans say the president's opening bid is nothing but a political stunt. so where does that leave us? after months of hearing about the fiscal cliff, there are no signs of a compromise plan. let's bring in senior congressional correspondent miss dana bash. dana? republicans say president obama's opening offer is, you know, all take and no give here. do they feel like the president is wasting their time? >> reporter: yes. they do. and, you know, a lot of times when we see this kind of toing and froing in public, don, it masks what is really going on behind the scenes, which is real negotiating. so i asked that question of john boehner, who has been through this kind of negotiating many, many times over many years, if that's what we're seeing or if we're at a stalemate. listen to this .

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the past 24 hours, is this the necessary public posturing that needs to go on to get an endgame or is there serious stalemate right now? >> there is a stalemate. let's not kid ourselves. i'm not trying to make this more difficult, but if you watched me over the last three weeks, i've been very girded in what i have to say because i don't want to make it harder for me or the president or members of both parties to be able to find common ground. but when i come out the day after the election, and make it clear that republicans will put revenue on the table, i took a great risk. and then the white house spends three weeks trying to develop a proposal and they send one up here, they didn't want to have this extra spending that is actually greater than the amount they're willing to cut. i mean, it is -- it was not a serious proposal. and so right now we're almost nowhere. >> reporter: we're also told that when the treasury secretary

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went into the office of the senate minority leader, mitch mcconnell, he got the proposal and he laughed. he literally laughed and he said this is just not a serious proposal. let me tell you quickly what is going on behind the scenes that has given this -- so much anxiousness to both sides, particularly the republican side. diedra walsh has been doing great report and it is not so much the big issue that divides them, whether taxes for the wealthy should go up, but the democrats put in things that they know republicans will be very difficult for them to go for, $50 billion in stimulus, mentioned that coming in, and even giving the president the authority to raise a debt limit automatically and giving congress' role or making their role a lot more minimal when it comes to that. those are the kinds of things that really irked republicans. >> you're going to be there for a while, through the holidays. let's hope not, but probably. thank you, dana bash. we just got word the ceo of that toy factory president obama

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toured today is going to speak with us. the president likened republicans to scrooge today in his news conference while tourg t touring the pennsylvania factory. i want to bring in mr. arton. the president is drawing a line in the sand over the fiscal cliff talks. he said republicans must first cut a deal on middle class taxes. then they can wrestle over spending cuts. so as a businessman, do you agree with this strategy? >> well, don, great to talk to you today. i have to say it was a unique day to have marine one landing in our front yard and i couldn't ask for a better endorsement for the holidays than having the president of the united states buy some kinex this year. i think what the president actually said is what he said on the campaign trail, we're going to have -- both sides have to give, and we're going to have to get to a compromise to get a solution. and when i see the public skirmishing back and forth as a businessman, i'm frustrated and leaders in congress and congress

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don't seem to be able to understand the american people are watching and what they want say solution, not more bickering. >> what they want is a compromise. and even as a small business person, everyone talks about what the fiscal cliff could do to small business, what obama care can do for small business, but you said we shouldn't worry about that so much, that we should get some sort of compromise in order to keep moving and keep talking and keep moving forward? >> well, i think that it was pretty clear during the course of the election and since and even in the president's speech today where he said he's willing to give on some revenue and some spending cuts, he's proposed some, he's already passed some into law. and beyond that, just from my perspective, what i see is that we know that we're a confidence-based economy, we're 70% of the economy driven by consumer spending and anything that puts a crimp in consumer spending is not good for the economy. so to put a tax rise, a tax rate increase for the middle class makes no sense to me. someone who makes 50, 60,

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$70,000 a year will lose and will take away a lot of discretionary purchases from people like me and travel and a whole host of other areas. i hope our leaders in washington are listening and they take the steps necessary to get to a compromise before the end of the year. >> very quickly, very simply, optimistic or pessimistic? >> i'm optimistic, 1,000% confident they'll get this solved by the end of the year. >> thank you, michael. appreciate it. >> thank you. so what was meant to be a discussion on recovery efforts in the wake of superstorm standee erupted into tears and outbursts of anger. it was standing room only at the town hall meeting on staten island as people who lost everything begged for help from fema. wabc's carol lee was there. >> reporter: more than 700 people packed the auditorium for a town hall meeting for superstorm sandy victims on

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staten island. there was a time to discuss business and a chance to lay out their emotions. >> we are extremely, extremely frustrated. this is what you need to understand. we go from one to another. we go from fema to our homeowners. my homeowners insurance offered me $150. what can i do with that? >> reporter: more than 100 people were left out in the lobby when the auditorium reached capacity. >> i don't know if i want to go in there after what i'm hearing from the people. >> reporter: the borough president organized this meeting for fema representatives and other city officials to answer questions. >> whoa, whoa. you wanted me to get up. do i have the right to speak? do i have the right to speak? >> reporter: some questions were answered -- >> the outdoor air quality in new york city, based on our testing, is fine, okay? the quality of air -- >> reporter: -- while others took the opportunity to vent their frustrations.

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>> it is not safe for us to live there! the next storm that hits, everybody is going to be vulnerable! >> reporter: and some just gave up. >> you think it's a joke? you really think it's a joke? you go home for the holidays. i don't. but you sit there with your smile, i wish it was election, because you would do better this year. >> very contentious meeting. want to bring in mike burn, federal coordinating officer at fema. 700 people were there, mr. burn. and these are people who say staten island looks the same now as it did a few days after sandy. what is fema doing right there now? where is the money going? >> we have a lot of people on the ground in staten island and, first and foremost, you know, people -- you know, this storm hurt a lot of people. they have a right to be angry about that. but the important thing is to realize that we're there, and we're not leaving until we get it done. we have put into the community, into the new york community over

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$718 million in 30 days. we're getting the money to the people. but it's not enough. we have got to do more. we have got to continue to work with them. >> well, i think absolutely. i think most people would agree with that. the people at these meetings, at this meeting, they jeered when promised air quality is safe. you heard it in the story there. and we're hearing reports of breathing problems and skin irritations. how is fema addressing the health concerns? >> well, we work with the local officials, with the city health department, the state department of health and we'll bring in teams of our experts to help from hhs or environmental protection agency. but, you know, look, we're going to do everything we can. we're going to bring whatever teams we need to do get in there to, you know, make sure that it is a safe place. but some of these places are not safe. and for that, we're providing other places for them to go. we have over 3,000 families in our temporary shelter -- transitional shelter program. we provided rental assistance to, you know, thousands of people. we're going to keep doing those

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things so they can be in a safe place, while they're trying to rebuild their neighborhoods. >> where is the disconnect here? you seem to be saying you think you're doing a fairly good job and that, but you can do better. the people there don't seem to think so. where is the disconnect here, mr. burn? >> i'm never satisfied with the job i'm doing as long as i see people suffering. so i continue to push my forces, push my team, push all of the capabilities that we can and to help empower, not just fema, because it is not just fema, but empower volunteer agencies out there, the private sector, the private companies, the insurance companies that are also helping and plugging money into it. it is our responsibility to work together, and we have got to do good team work together, but none of us is satisfied with the progress we're making. >> let's talk about housing now. fema extended temporary hotel accommodations but the news came on the day that many were to check out. why not give them earlier notice? >> we'll work at that.

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what we're doing is we have to make sure that we have the available space that we have the ability to do it, and it is pretty automatic program. we're not going to put people at risk, but we're also trying to find a better solution for them. we're trying to find rental places where they rent for longer term while they're working on their homes and we're also -- we're doing it an extraordinary new program called step, we're getting in there, providing assistance to temporarily get there, their homes themselves so they get back in the neighborhoods, to get minimum repairs so they can move back into their houses. >> but my question is why not give them earlier notice? >> well, you know, the program, you know, requires us to do an evaluation. we'll work harder to try to give them earlier notice, but it is only every 14 days. so we have to keep evaluating as to whether or not it is something we can continue to support. >> you put first responders on luxury cruise ships but not victims. now you're considering housing victims on small boats. do you think that they would be

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happy with that? >> we're not -- we're not considering boats for victims. in fact, the teams i have right now, i have over 800 dhs surge capacity working with fema doing street by street community relations. they're staying not on luxury ships, but on training vessels with three bunks. there are people that, you know, these ships were designed to have younger people on them. we're putting people on there and they're willingly, they're proud to be part of the effort and volunteered to do it and we have got them on the three training vessels and in fact, two of them are on staten island. >> so the thing about housing people on boats, not true ? >> not true. >> okay, mike burn, thank you. >> you're welcome. up next, polygamist leader warren jeffs may be in prison, but he still controls his massive ranch in texas. and prosecutors are trying to change that using his secret journals. the brand-new developments next. [ male announcer ] where do you turn for legal matters?

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polygamist leader servining lif in prison for child sex abuse is back in the news. warren jeffs still commands his followers from prison. the texas attorney general is moving to seize jeff's once secret compound. the yearning for zion ranch in west texas is what we're talking about. that's where prosecutores say jeffs and his followers abused children and prosecutors are using jeffs' own words against him. criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor anne bremner on the case for us right now. anne, prosecutors are quoting parts of warren jeffs diaries seized in a 2008 raid in which more than 400 children were removed from the compound. so how do the diary's entries help seize the property. >> you take money to take things that are illegal to make them look legal. so what he's talking about in his diaries is a lot of illegal activity at the yearning for zion $43 million compound built

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for pedophilia, bigamy, polygamy and he was housed there as a fugitive. he went into great detail about his intentions for the use of that property. >> anne, will this be an easy process, seizing property used in a crime? >> it is one of the easiest things the government can do in a criminal case and one of the hardest to defend. they sim spply have to show connection with the crime and have a low burden, which is preponderance of the evidence, more likely than not, 51%, and they take the property. and then they can sell it. they can do whatever they want with the property. and the owner is the one that has a right to notice in a hearing, but they got a real uphill battle and that is warren jeffs himself to keep that property. >> and it always surprises me, because jeffs is not the only criminal who continues to run their operation from prison. how is it possible and is there any way to stop it? >> isn't it amazing?

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he has edicts to the people's followers say, hey, if they come to the property, take appropriate action whether that's violence, et cetera, he's definitely communicating with them to make this like a branch davidian navy. but they have certain rights in prison. you don't give up all your rights. one right is the first amendment right to communicate. that can be tempered by virtue of your communication because if you're out there telling people to commit crimes, or you're saying i want to escape, or that kind of a thing, then they can monitor the information. maybe here they were waiting for him to hang himself and maybe here to put the final chapter in this ugly, ugly story by seizing this property and ending his empire once and for all, they wanted him to say some more things. don't know. they could have stopped him now, but running a criminal enterprise from prison, you know, who would have thunk, ever, especially in this case. >> absolutely. anne, thank you. appreciate it. it is a game that everyone wanted to win. this week's powerball that was worth a whopping half a billion dollars, i'm still here, which means i did not win. up next, find out what one of

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we have an update on the new jersey train derailment where authorities say most of the

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danger has passed. but just look at this wreckage. a freight train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in southern new jersey in the town of paulsboro. at least one of the train cars leaked toxins into the creek near the delaware river after crashing off a bridge. there it is. 28 people in the surrounding area sought treatment for respiratory issues. one big winner of the record powerball jackpot still yet to claim their share. but the other faced the cameras today. a missouri mechanic and his wife walking away just shy of $294 million. how are they going to live on that? they're the parents of four kids including a daughter adopted from china. >> my husband gave me -- he said, oh, he gave me $10, go by ten lottery tickets. i'm like, okay, they're $2 each. so he goes, he said, okay, buy 5. that's what i did and happened to be the middle numbers that won so -- >> well, cindy hill was on her

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way to a job interview when she got the news. guess what, she ditched the interview. who wouldn't? congratulations, by the way. coming up, bombings, death, hundreds injured. we're not talking about syria or gaza. we're talking about iraq. the u.s. ended the war there officially nearly a year ago. so why did dozens of people die from explosions in the last three days? make sure you stay with us for this report. americans believe they should be in charge of their own future.

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to why they haven't moved on it. what we do know is these are divisive issues, challenging for the court. we know the court likes to move slowly on the sweeping social issues. and they have been known to keep issues like this on their desk for years at a time. so no telling yet when they'll pick this thing up and run with it. back to you. >> joe johns. we'll hear more. joe is anchoring tonight and he'll be here at the top of the hour. thank you, joe. so joe joins you at the top of the hour. it is nearing the bottom of the hour now. i'm don lemon. 20 iraqi men heading to serve their country are now the victims of a kidnapping. it happened today as the army recruits were traveling from mosul to baghdad when they were ambushed by at least a dozen gunmen. that's according to iraqi police who are now searching for the recruits. the abduction caps a week of violence in iraq, more than 80

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people died since tuesday, killing a string of bombings throughout iraq including fallujah and car bukarbala. the worst was yesterday. we turn to cnn's executive editor tim lister covering the region extensively. all coming back. >> hauntingly familiar, fallujah, karbala, all these places are back in our eyesight. >> in the news. we're saying these are cities and towns again, the u.s. ended the war in iraq nearly a year ago. why the violence? is it getting that bad? is it picking up? >> it got particularly bad now. it is the first of ashurah, that's when the shia majority in iraq go to mosque and gather in open space and they're an easy soft target for a resurgent al qaeda. and al qaeda in iraq is back. for a long time, especially during the end of the u.s. presence, it was very much subordinated by a joint u.s. iraqi operation. but it is now reformed. if anything it is more dangerous

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and it is certainly devoted to the sectarian attacks against shia. >> does this mean iraq will disintegrate now? >> you can never tell whether this combination of events could push it over the edge and back into civil war or whether somehow it will muddle through. but the challenges are huge. on the one side, you have iran which is supporting the prime minister malachi but he has to keep all balances, the sunni, the shia, the kurds, very, very close in the past couple of weeks coming to blows over the disputed oil territories. >> the question comes, additional u.s. troops into iraq? >> i think there is more chance of you winning the powerball to be honest with you. they got out of iraq. there was no residual agreement, no status of forces agreement. the chances are this administration wanting to go back into iraq with very little opportunity, frankly, to do very much about what is a growing

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sectarian fissure between the shia and sunni and the sunni are looking to syria and thinking, hey, what if we get a sunni regime, hard-line sunni regime in syria instead of assad? we got someone guarding our back. that in turn could lead to the dissolution of iraq quite easily. they're muddling through. but it is probably been -- it is now the gravest crisis certainly since the u.s. forces left. >> something our international unit will keep a close eye on. thank you, tim lister. we appreciate it. we're getting this in now from casper, wyoming, a murder/suicide on the campus of casper college has left three people dead. casper police were called to the campus this morning. they found multiple victims and at first thought that they were dealing with a shooting. well, police now say no firearm was used. the victims' injuries were caused by what police are calling a sharp-edged weapon. we'll keep an eye on that for you. up next, ali velshi on why economic storms abroad could soon be making their way right here.

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plus, nba fans, they pay big bucks to see their favorite team and the best players, so what happens when you go to the game and the best players are sent home? what's up with that? john sali weighs in on the controversy coming up. look in, they see more than themselves. so we celebrate our year-end with the "share the love" event. get a great deal on a new subaru and 250 dollars goes to your choice of five charities. by the end of this, our fifth year, our total can reach almost 25 million dollars. it's a nice reflection on us all. now through january 2nd. those little things for you, life's about her. but your erectile dysfunction - that could be a question of blood flow. cialis tadalafil for daily use helps you be ready anytime the moment's right. you can be more confident in your ability to be ready. and the same cialis is the only daily

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♪ ali velshi. this is your money. economic storms brewing abroad could spread to america's shores. today, the european union reported almost 26 million people were out of work in october. that pushed the continent's unemployment rate up to 10.7%. by comparison, u.s. unemployment stands at 7.9%. job lines grew much longer in some of the hardest hit eurozone countries. greece, unemployment at 25.4%. portugal, 16.7%. spain, a jobless rate of 26.2%. take notice.

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the stakes are just too high. the u.s. and european union are massive trading partners. $700 billion in goods and services a year. that is the world's biggest trading relationship. the other storm brewing abroad to watch is in asia. today, india announced its economic growth slowed in the third quarter to an annual rate of 5.3%. that might sound high to americans, but for india this is the third quarter in a row that it is below 6%. china experienced a similar slowdown, trade with china is only second to our trade with the european union. meaning the talks of a recession and storm in europe and asia could hit the u.s. next year. the fiscal cliff will be an economic storm of our own making if congress doesn't act before january. in particular it is going to hurt seniors on medicare. listen to this, if congress does nothing, doctors will be reimbursed 27% less than they are at current rates, starting in january. that could spur thousands of doctors to stop seeing medicare patients.

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speaking of the fiscal cliff, there has been all this focus on one dangerous man who stands in the way of a deal that could avert it. grover norquist is neither elected nor has he ever run for office, so why is washington so scared of him? >> taxes went up, spending didn't go down. >> he's been called a kingmaker, a patriot, and the ideological godfather of the tea party. since the mid'80s, grover norquist, the founder of americans for tax reform, has been the driving force behind the anti-tax movement. his goal, to take big government and in his words, drown it in the bathtub. norquist's weapon is the taxpayer protection pledge, which was at one point signed by 95% of gop members of congress. >> you raise your hand if you feel so strongly about not raising taxes. >> reporter: on the campaign trail this year, only one republican presidential candidate, jon huntsman, dared to cross him. norquist has clout. he's called the most powerful

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unelected man in america today. but since the november election, his fortunes have changed. >> i will violate the pledge. >> a pledge you sign 20 years ago, 18 years ago, is for that congress. >> i'm not obligated on the pledge. >> reporter: republicans in congress are jumping ship and supporting unspecified revenue hikes to help cut the deficit. and big businesses now resign to higher taxes. here is lloyd blankfine. >> we had to lift the marginal rate, i would do that. >> reporter: norquist's response. >> to be fair to everybody, some of the people had impure thoughts. no one has pulled the trigger and voted for a tax increase. >> reporter: norquist is clearly looking toward the 2014 midterm elections. but one high profile figure from the fix the debt movement believes that norquist's clout is clearly waning. >> i don't view this as some -- as the end of grover norquist. i don't think he suddenly zpe z disappears, never to be seen of again, but i think his aura of

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invincibility has been largely shattered. >> former republican presidential contender jon huntsman was the only candidate in the primaries who wouldn't bind himself to norquist's anti-tax pledge. i met with huntsman earlier today. he had some advice for his fellow republicans. >> there are dozens and dozens of special interest movements in washington. all of whom have their pledges, all of whom try to get their pound of flesh when people are running for office and i think we're learn something very important lessons, the political class in america as we go in america as we go through this, it becomes impossible to do the work of the people, which desperately needs to be done economically and every other way to prepare for competitiveness when you're hamstrung and tied down by all the plenls. >> >> get rid of the mortgage interest tax deduction that millions of home owners depend on. 40 million americans take advantage of it. but it costs the government $80 billion a year and it is going up. it has dubious results. the u.s. has a lower rate of home ownership than canada does

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and canada offers no such incentive. it is not just deficit hawks who want to get rid of this. former clinton era labor secretary and big time liberal economist robert reich had been saying for years the mortgage interest deduction should end. but he acknowledged the political realities make that hard to do. if you can't get rid of it, maybe the government should limit it. >> it should be limited, i believe. you can't get rid of it politically. it is almost impossible. but also economically, if you simply got rid of it altogether, the housing market would take a big hit. >> that assumes that some people won't buy a house if they don't get the tax break and i'm not sure that's true. that's what you need to know about your money right now. i will see you this weekend, tomorrow, 1:00 p.m. eastern, sunday at 3:00. you'll meet the one single democrat in the current congress who signed the norquist anti-tax pledge. and we'll find out if he's sticking to his guns. from the cnn money newsroom in new york, i'm ali velshi with your money. of any small business credit card! pizza!!!!!

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here is the story right now. missing in miami, santonio spurs, superstars. if you turned on last night's nationally televised game between the spurs and the miami heat expecting to see a matchup of the top players, if you were expecting that, you were sorely, sorely disappointed. i know it is disappointing. you were disappointed. greg popovich told his three star players, duncan, parker, and manu ginobli to take the game off and rest. sending them home on the plane, hours before the tip-off. they weren't even at the game. he said his decision was in the best interests of his team that was playing its fourth game in five nights. miami ended up winning 105-100, but nba commissioner david stern wasn't happy about the last minute lineup change. he issued an apology to nba fans

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and called the decision unacceptable, promising substantial sanctions, that's a quote, on the san antonio spurs. so former nba player john salley is here to talk about this. the coach is responsible for the well-being of his team. not the commissioner. was that the right move by popovich? >> don, thank you for having me. i'm going to tell you this. i took my hat off to popovich. he won four championships with these guys. he knows exactly what he's doing with these guys. and to think about it, miami, what, didn't play -- they played one game in 11 days they were sitting up waiting on this, this is a national worldwide exposure, you know, they play in china as well, going to watch that, and he sat around and said, so the scheduling, knowing they were going to play this big game on a thursday night, tv night, we haven't had any rest, we haven't been home since before thanksgiving, we're a team called the san antonio

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spurs, not a team called duncan, tony and ginobli. he took his team, put it in and guess what happened, the miami heat almost lost that game with six minutes to go. they were losing. at home. to the b squad. >> john. >> he did it right. >> john, who do people come to see? >> okay, i thought the same thing. but i'm on your television show and i was the sixth, seventh man off the bench. guess what, i was an nba player, one out of a million in america, so guess what, they come to see the game, i remember one time when i was player rep, david stern said, i'm going to show you guys, the name on the front is more important than the name on the back and he was right. >> yeah. okay. i get you in theory. but i'm telling you who people come to see. and, listen, so, okay, so they're not on the court. do they have to put them on the plane before the game? can they just sit there and have everyone go, oh, my gosh, there's wade, oh, my gosh, let's take a picture with him and at least have them at -- there at the game?

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>> okay, so i thought that too. but if you wasted your -- you saved your money and you brought them to the game and said, hey, we're going to see duncan, and you get there and they're in suit on the bench, the kid is like, they're not playing, i can see that on television, i can see that in a magazine. they're not performing. if you ever go to broadway and all of a sudden the lead is not there and the understudy comes in -- >> i want my money back. >> no. you want the show. >> i want my money back. >> this is a show. >> if i'm going to see miami, i want to see lebron, i want to see dwyane wade. >> and you did. they did. >> what if they didn't play? >> probably would have been a better game because people would not have been looking at just three players. they would have looked at a team this is best thing about what he did. this is a team sport. when we win a championship, everybody gets a ring. when these guys get drafted, everybody in each of those guys' family on that bench -- >> does everybody get the same salary? does everybody get the same salary? >> well, you know what, no one

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is ever going to get the same salary. you deserve more money than most people you work with. >> all that money, every single year -- >> but the money has nothing to do with what the deal is. he treated his guys like humans. if he felt they were wore down and would be the benefit of the team, because you know what the deal is? this game, very important on television, but you want it for the playoffs. >> all right. i'm with you on that. i'm with you on that if they're tired. but i think there is a happy compromise somewhere because i think the fans were expecting to see the stars. the people everyone wants to see on television, at the game, paying the money who bring intrigue and drama to the game. >> it is not golf. >> oh, come on. what's dramatic about golf. john, come on, man. come on, man. >> when they sat the starting quarterback, they sat the starting quarterback in san francisco and put in the reserve, look what happened, the starting quarterback lost his job. >> you're talking about one

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person. >> i know. i'm talking about that's what happened. >> we'll end it there. i'm having fun with you. i understand i would be very disappointed if i paid a lot of money and i didn't see the stars. i'm just being honest. john salley. >> look up in the sky, brother. >> or look at the tv screen. i see you. thank you. appreciate it. >> that's a good one. >> all right. up next, how to treat post traumatic stress disorder. now a drug may hold the key. sanjay gupta has access to the therapy and the patients. ♪

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more than 7 million americans suffer from americans suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. the nightmares, flashbacks and anxiety can leave them unable to lead normal lives. experts say at least half are not helped by conventional treatment. but new research is pointing in a surprising direction. dr. sanjay gupta reports now. >> some party was on guard. just wouldn't stop. couldn't shut it down. >> reporter: for rachel hope, the mental agony began in childhood when she says she was abused and raped at age 4. as a grown up, the smallest trigger like a familiar smell even would bring it all back.

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>> i would get very extreme stabbing sensations in my body. and then like fixed visuals like being, for instance raped. >> reporter: mental breakdowns, four hospitalizations. and along the way rachel tried almost every treatment in the book. >> i tried rapid eye movement therapy, hypnosis, yell it out, scream it out. nothing worked. >> reporter: and then she discovered an experiment run by dr. michael mid hofer. >> this is the place where we do the study and meet with people and do the sessions. >> reporter: intense psychotherapy including eight sessions and taking a capsule of ecsta ecstasy. listen closely. you can say -- >> i really need. keep guiding. keep guiding.

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>> i felt as if my whole brain was powered up like a christmas tree. all at once. >> sometimes usually people did have positive occurrences but a lot of times revisiting the trauma was painful, difficult experience. but it seemed to make it possible for them to do it effectively. >> reporter: within weeks rachel says about 90% of her symptoms were gone. >> i don't scream. i don't have flashbacks anymore. >> reporter: and in results just published, he says 14 of 19 patients were dramatically better more than three years later. >> the question is, okay, was this just a flash in the pan? did people just feel good from taking a drug? so the answer to that turned out to be, no, it wasn't just a flash in the pan for most people. >> reporter: now, of course 19 people is still just a tiny study. but it is getting attention. lori sutton was the top. >> i've reviewed it and the

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results look promising. it's like the rest of science. we'll follow where the data leads. we'll leave our politics at the door. >> point out that none of this means street ecstasy is safe. apart from being illegal, you don't know what you're getting. it's often contaminated. it can cause a higher body temperature, dehydration and also cases where people overwhen sate and actually die from drinking too much water. but in a controlled setting, which is what we're talking about here, the evidence does seem to suggest that it can be safe. similar studies are underway in europe and canada. and he's halfway through a study offering this treatment to combat veterans, firefighters and police officers. dr. sanjay gupta, cnn reporting. >> make sure you tune into dr. sanjay gupta this weekend saturday afternoon at 4:30 eastern and sunday morning at 7:30 eastern. dozens of fast food workers protest and walk off the job. up next, find out what workers from mcdonald's, kfc and burger king are demanding.

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new yorkers looking for some fast food had a bit of a problem yesterday. dozens of workers walked off the job at mcdonalds, kfcs and burger kings. they're fighting for higher wages and the right to unionize. i want you to listen to these protesting workers. >> many people are not able to afford apartments, some are on food stamps. and it's just not livable. >> i'm trying to accomplish better pay, better working condition and more -- provide more clothing, a roof over my kids' head and put food on their table. >> all right. so better wages, better working conditio conditions.

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how much are they asking for? >> reporter: they're asking for kwiebtd. employees want their wages bumped to up $15. median pay in new york city is currently $9 an hour. that's about a 60% increase. it works out to just around $18,500 a year. that's well below the census bureau's poverty threshold for a family of four. one employee told cnn money that in addition to the 40 hours a week he works at mcdonald's, that's a full workweek, he works two other part time jobs just to make ends meet. it's tough out there. an organizer of the protest said that's not unusual these days and many workers do rely on government assistance, as you heard, because the wages are so low. but there's a domino effect to this kind of stuff. many of these places, fast food restaurants, may have to raise prices in order to pay the higher wages. and of course that's not going to keep customers happy. the fast food industry in general has been struggling lately to meet those profit expectations as it is. >> all right.

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felicia taylor in new york. thank you. >> sure. before we go, i want to tell you this. the new york city policeman who helped a homeless man is speaking out right now. a tourist snapped this photo of the 25-year-old officer larry deprimo as he helped a homeless man put on a new pair of boots the officer had just paid for. the nypd posted the picture on its facebook page. now the picture has more than half a million likes. the officer spoke with our brooke baldwin this morning to talk about why he stopped to help. >> it was extremely cold out and this gentleman didn't even have a pair of socks on. you could see the blisters from like ten, 15 feet away. >> how bad were they? >> probably about the size of my palm. i don't know how he wasn't in pain. but he wasn't bothering anybody. he had his own agenda. he was a gentleman when i had spoken to him. and i knew i had to help him. he was extremely thankful. he had a smile from ear to ear